Justified
by butterflylover
Summary: An AU Sexis story.


Justified

I don't write a lot of fics, don't know where this came from, but it did so I thought I'd share hope you like it.

What you need to know: Alexis had Sam at 13 and Sam is now 21/ Everything else is the same in Port Charles minus Alexis.

Sometimes things get messy. That's just the way life is, if she had a motto that would be it. Alexis shut her eyes tightly trying to forget what had happened on this dark, rainy, depressing day. Her body count had arisen by at least two, funny how even as the thought crossed her mind she couldn't bring herself to feel any remorse. She had been beaten down for too long. This was her revenge and, in a way, her redemption. She was tired of being a meek, quiet little mouse scuttling about, hiding. She was done with hiding. Nothing would make her back down again. She had lost her daughter, her sister, her mother, and herself somewhere in the endless abyss she had called her life. It was time to regain, regroup, and rebuild. Port Charles, New York was printed boldly on the airplane ticket she held in her hand, her daughter was there, Alexis' father had promised her that much. She felt the queasy feeling come over her as the plane started to rise; she had never done well with flying. She looked out the window to watch Moscow fade, it was funny, Moscow was her home and should have been her haven, but she felt no sorrow as she watched it fade. She couldn't go back now, but that brought her no sadness either, she never wanted to come back here, never wanted to even think of Russia again. She had gone to school in the States, happy to escape her horrid Stepmother as long as she possibly could, she had found happiness there, where Anastasia was conceived, where daughter's father had last drawn air, before Andreas had killed him, on Helena's orders, just because he had loved her. She didn't know if she had loved him, she wasn't sure love was something she was capable of. She would like to find out, though. Helena would not stop her this time; she had made sure of that before she left. She had never been one to condone violence of any kind but when Kristina, her sister, had been "accidentally" beaten to death by Andre on Helena's order she had felt all of her convictions leave her and she had taken action. Kristina had been all she had left, the only source of joy in her life. Her father had never stood for either of them, turning the other way while Helena tortured them endlessly. Alexis shook off the thoughts, looking back would only bring pain and the past was the past. Helena was dead now, as was Andre, Andreas and Stavros, she would never regret what she had done over the last week. She had not wanted to kill Stavros, he had been neither mean nor kind to her, choosing to simply pretend she didn't exist. Today, however, had been a different story he had come after her, looking to avenge the mother he loved so dearly, but he had not realized that she was a mother herself, and loved her daughter more than Helena had loved anything in her life and nothing would keep her from being with her again. This was a new start for her, a new life, and she would never look back, Natasha Cassadine was as dead as her Stepmother, and Alexis Davis was feeling the queasiness come back as the plane descended.

It was early December, and the snow shone in the moonlight. Alexis had headed for Wyndemere as soon as she stepped off the plane, her nephew would be expecting her. Nikolas had been her sole source of support through this, sending her money to escape and promising that he would protect her, no matter what. Alexis had always been his favorite person in the world, though now she thought Emily probably held that title. Mikkos would have told Nikolas what had happened over the last week, but she knew he would understand.

Nikolas Cassadine paced the dark halls of Wyndemere, unable to relax until he knew his aunt was okay, he knew what it had taken to escape that hell he had once called his home. Emily came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck "She'll be fine, Nikolas."

"She won't be fine Emily; you know what she had to do to get out of there."

"She had to do it, Nikolas, she knows that, you know that, even I know that," Emily kissed his cheek softly. "She'll be here any minute now and I can't wait to meet her."

"You know when I was a little boy I used to dream that she was my mother. She always took care of me, especially after Grandfather gave her baby away, now it's my turn to take care of her, and I'm a little scared she's been through so much." He would have gone on from there, but at that moment the doorbell rang.

Alfred stepped into the hall headed for the door. "I've got it Alfred that will be my Aunt."

"Of course, sir." Alfred turned and headed back down the hall.

Nikolas opened the door, "Thank God your finally here…" he started before he was cut off.

"I didn't think you liked me that much Nikolas, maybe I should come by more often."

"Sonny." Nikolas sighed, he felt a headache coming on, "Now is not really a good time, so whatever you want can wait."

"I'm not going anywhere." Sonny walked past Nikolas ignoring the glare of the younger man. "I need to talk to you about Sam."

"Sam?! I barely even know Sam, Sonny, so I don't what I could possibly do for her." Nikolas shut the door and followed Sonny who was already headed to parlor uninvited; he hoped he was gone before his Aunt arrived.

"You can tell me who Natasha Cassadine is."

Nikolas paled, he didn't know how Sonny or Sam knew about his Aunt but this couldn't be good.

Chapter 3

"What are you talking about?" Nikolas had no idea what exactly was going on here but he did know he needed to get rid of Sonny before his Aunt arrived.

Sonny made himself comfortable in one of the overstuffed chairs and grinned at Emily, who looked nervously at Nikolas. "I'm guessing this Natasha is another one of your long lost creepy relatives. I just need to know which one and where I can find her now."

" I don't know a Natasha, Sonny. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

Sonny shifted and rested his chin on his hand, "You know, I wanted to make this easy on you Nikolas, so I thought I would give you a chance to answer my questions first. If you don't want to give me the answers I'll have to take my questions else where. Luke should be happy to do the rest of my digging for me. You wouldn't want that now would you?"

Nikolas closed his eyes and sighed either way this was going to be bad he could feel it. "Why are you looking for this so called long lost Cassadine for anyway? I mean what could she possibly be to you?"

"To me? Nothing. But there's a good chance she's Sam's mother."

"Sam? That's impossible, I've met Mr. McCall and trust me no Cassadine would have that kind of relationship with him."

"It turns out Sam was adopted, according to the papers she and Jason located she was born March 19th 1985 to Natasha Cassadine. That's all we have been able to find on her so far."

Nikolas was trying to decide how to handle the information he was just given when he heard the doorbell ring.

Alfred went to answer the door and Emily followed him.

"I'm guessing that would be the person you were so thankful for when you answered the door for me. So why don't you just answer my questions and I will be out of your way." Sonny leaned back waiting for Nikolas' response. He had a feeling Nikolas knew exactly who Natasha was and where he could find her. He also felt a rising curiosity about the mystery guest that Nikolas seemed so anxious to see.

Emily, who had managed to somehow beat Alfred to the door, swung it open and pulled Alexis in, "You must be Alexis, we are so happy you're finally here."

"You have no idea, and you must be Emily," Alexis smiled brightly at her "I have heard so much about you."

"I bet your exhausted, why don't Alfred and I show you to your room."

"Thank you, and I am tired but I wanted to see Nikolas first, where is he?"

Nikolas sighed, "Listen Sonny I can't answer your questions but if you give me some time I will look into it."

Sonny stood and picked up his coat he knew he was getting nowhere today. "Fine, make sure you do. Sam wants and deserves to know where she came from." He started to head toward the door when a woman he'd never seen before walked through it, headed for Nikolas, she hadn't noticed Sonny there, but he was pretty sure he'd have noticed her anywhere.

Chapter 4

Sonny stood there, almost frozen as Alexis hugged her nephew. There was something about her that made his heart speed up and he couldn't take his eyes off her.

Finally Nikolas spoke, "I'm so glad you made here okay."

Alexis smiled warmly at her nephew, "I'm so happy to be here." She turned to set her coat and purse down on the couch and for the first time noticed the other man in the room. Dangerous was the first word that ran through her head as she took in the slicked back hair, expensive suit, and dark stare fixed directly on her. He was handsome, that she had to admit, if only to herself, but danger was the last thing she needed and his unwavering gaze made her more uncomfortable than she'd care to confess. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realize you had company, I'll just have Alfred show me to my room."

"No, that's okay, Mr. Corinthos was just leaving."

Sonny smiled, giving Alexis a full view of his dimples, and she tried not to swoon, she had always had a weakness for a deep set of dimples. "Without a proper introduction? Never. Where are your manners Nikolas?" He walked over to Alexis and took her hand in his kissing the back, letting his lips linger there for longer than necessary. "Sonny Corinthos, pleased to meet you Miss…." He trailed off leaving her to fill in the blanks.

"Davis." She replied without smiling, pulling her hand out of his grasp, she knew his type. "Alexis Davis."

"Alexis is a beautiful name, it fits you."

Alexis raised her eyebrows, mildly amused, he was good. "Thank You."

Nikolas knew he had to break this up soon, he recognized the look in Sonny's eyes. He'd seen him use that same look on Emily, Carly and every other woman he had ended up bedding in the years since he had known him. There was no way in hell he would let his Aunt become the next notch in Sonny Corinthos' bed post. "Well, as entertaining as your visit has been, Sonny, its time for you to leave, my Aunt has had a long journey and I'm sure she's tired."

Sonny smiled again, knowing that he was making Nikolas nervous and not caring all that much. "Of course. Are you going to be in town a while Miss Davis?"

"For awhile, yes."

"Wonderful, I'm positive we'll meet again." And he was, he was already plotting in his mind how he could "accidentally" run into her tomorrow. With a nod to Nikolas and another one to Emily he followed the waiting Alfred out the door.

"Well, he was certainly interesting." Alexis stated after she heard the door shut behind him.

Nikolas took a deep breath, "He's trouble Alexis. My advice would be to avoid him at all costs."

"Don't worry about that, the last thing I need in my life right now is Mr. Corinthos. I am tired though, I think I'm going to turn in for the night." She said her goodnights and followed Alfred to her room, unaware of the magnitude of Sonny's growing fascination with her.

Sonny stepped onto the launch with Max and Milo following closely behind. "Milo, I have a new job for you, are you paying close attention?"

Milo nodded nervously shifting from foot to foot.

"You saw Nikolas' visoter when she came to the door, didn't you."

Milo nodded again.

"Good. I want you to keep a constant watch on her, when I pick up the phone I want to be able to know where she is and what she's doing, got it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Great. Start now." Sonny had never been this enamored with anyone this quickly, he knew she was special, and the next step was to make her his.

Chapter 5

Sonny got very little sleep that night and found himself irritated to find Carly, Jason, Sam, and Jax all gathered in living room by eight a.m. He had spent the night tossing and turning thinking about Alexis, trying to figure out what it was about her that had him so preoccupied and he was in no mood for the circus going on around him.

"Sonny, hey." Jason was the first one to spot him when he came in the room.

"What's going on?"

"Well, I'm not sure why Carly and Jax are here but Sam was anxious to know how your meeting with Nikolas went."

"Let me deal with Carly and her toy, and then we'll talk."

Jason nodded and Sonny moved over to Carly.

"Hey, listen, I need you to take the boys for a couple of days." Carly dreaded answering the question she knew was coming next, telling Sonny she was leaving town for a while with Jax was sure to start an argument that she didn't feel like having.

"That's fine. Where are they?" Sonny asked looking around.

"That's it? No questions, no accusations, just fine."

"You wanted a fight?"

"No, not at all, just surprised. Leticia will bring them by later tonight."

"Great, so don't you need to be getting ready for… whatever it is your doing?" Sonny knew that it was obvious that he was trying to get rid of her, but he didn't care, for the first time in a long time he had more important things to focus on than Carly and her growing infatuation with Jax. He still didn't think it was love, but he was surprised to realize that it didn't bother him anymore. He was finally moving on and he was looking forward to spending some time with his boys. He found himself wondering if Alexis liked kids.

"Sonny?!" Carly snapped her fingers in his face impatiently trying to bring him back to the present.

"What?!" Sonny snapped back before realizing he hadn't been listening to her, he had been lost in his thoughts about Alexis. "Oh. Sorry."

"Where were you?"

"Nowhere, Carly, listen I need to talk Jason and Sam so I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, fine, bye." Carly walked out the door knowing that she should be relieved that Sonny didn't seem to care where she was going or what she was doing but it still bothered her more than a little bit.

Sonny sat down in the armchair across from the couch that held Jason and Sam. "Okay, here's the deal, I talked to Nikolas yesterday and he claimed not to know anything about a Natasha."

"Do you believe him?" Jason asked putting his arm around Sam.

"No. Not at all, but I don't think we'll get much more out of him, he seems to have something else going on right now."

"Something else? Like what?" Sam asked, curious.

"While I was there this Aunt that I have never heard mentioned before arrived and as soon as she did Nikolas was pushing me to the door."

"Do you think maybe this Aunt could be Natasha?" Jason asked

"She looks young, if she were Sam's mother she couldn't have been older than fifteen when she had her." Sonny leaned back and rested his chin in his hand.

"It's been known to happen."

"Yeah, you're right. I plan on getting to know her better though so we'll find out."

Jason grinned, "Plan on getting to know her better, huh?" He knew exactly what that meant.

Sonny grinned back, "Sure do."

"Dad!" At that moment Michael and Morgan came running into the house and threw their arms around Sonny.

"Hey guys! I missed you."

Jason and Sam stood up and hugged the boys, "We're gonna get out of here, Sonny. We'll see you later."

After Jason and Sam walked out and the boys went upstairs to put their bags in their rooms, Sonny pulled out his cell phone and made the call he had been waiting all morning to make. "Milo. Where is she?" A minute passed. "Kellys, and she just got there. Good job Milo, keep on her."

"Dad, what are we doing today?" Michael asked coming down the stairs with Morgan on his heels.

Sonny looked at his watch, it was now nine thirty. "I thought we'd go have a late breakfast at Kelly's."

"Yeah! Will Grandpa Mike be there today?"

"I am sure he will." Sonny answered even though he couldn't care less, he was thinking about someone else that would be there today.

Chapter 6

Business was slow at Kelly's, Mike only had one customer in the restaurant, Alexis, who had found the older man charming and was happy to make light conversation while she waited for her breakfast order. She was laughing at something Mike had said when Sonny walked in. He stopped at the door holding Morgan in his arm and just looked at her, she was beautiful. He couldn't look for long though, Michael broke away from him and ran up to his grandpa.

Alexis smiled at the little redheaded boy who called Mike Grandpa. She felt the familiar wave of sadness wash over her, the same sadness that overtook her every time she saw a child, though it was usually much stronger when she saw little girls and began to imagine the could haves.

"Hi." Michael smiled at her a little shyly, she was pretty.

Alexis smiled back "Hi. My name is Alexis."

"I'm Michael. Did you just move here? I have never seen you before."

Sonny grinned Alexis hadn't seen him yet, but Michael had now given him the perfect opening. As they talked Sonny noticed Michael was blushing more than usual and acting very shy. Sonny chuckled as he realized Michael had his first crush, but Sonny had the same crush and he had a feeling Michael's would go away long before his did. Just then Michael waved over at him and Alexis looked up and met his gaze, he saw the flicker of surprise and recognition as he walked over to them. "Hello, Alexis I told you we would meet again."

"You know my Dad?" Michael asked her.

"Uh, yes" she answered rather uncomfortably, "We met at my nephew's house yesterday."

"This is Nikolas' Aunt, and it seems you've already met my oldest son, this is my youngest, Morgan."

Alexis smiled warmly at the little boy. "Hi, Morgan." She said shaking his little hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Morgan squirmed to get down and Sonny set him on his feet. He watched as the little boy climbed into the seat beside Alexis. "It seems my boys have their hearts set on having breakfast with you. I hope you don't mind the invasion."

Alexis smiled again at the two adorable boys, she couldn't say no to these children no matter how nervous their father made her.

Sonny seated himself across from Alexis, and Mike who had went to get Alexis' order while she talked to Michael came back with her omelet. "Watch out for this one, Alexis." He said patting his sons shoulders, "He's trouble, I should know."

"Thanks, Pops." Sonny said sarcastically

"No problem, son. I have an omelet and some chocolate chip pancakes going in the kitchen, you boys wanna come help me out?"

As Michael and Morgan followed Mike back to the kitchen Sonny watched Alexis take a bite of her omelet, savoring it, and moaning just a little bit with her eyes closed. "Must be a really good omelet."

"Incredible." Alexis answered, her eyes still closed.

"You haven't had incredible yet. You need to have breakfast at my house, lunch and dinner too for that matter."

"Is that right?" Alexis had to smile.

"That's right. Why don't we start tonight?"

"Excuse me?"

"You me, Chicken Parmesan, good wine, and our chaperones."

"Our chaperones?"

"Michael and Morgan, they're all mine for a few days."

"I wouldn't want to intrude on your alone time with your sons." Alexis answered, she needed to get out of there quick before she agreed to something she knew she'd regret later. She lifted her purse and started digging around for her wallet.

"It would be no intrusion at all." He said and noticed the boys coming back with plates. "Why don't we put it to a vote, how would you boys like for Miss Davis here to join us for dinner tonight."

"Yeah!"

Alexis knew she couldn't say no to them and she set her purse back down, she was already sunk so she might as well stay and enjoy her omelet. "How can I say no to that."

The boys ran back to the kitchen and Sonny flashed his dimples at Alexis "You I think my oldest has a little crush on you."

Alexis smiled, "You think so, huh?"

Sonny grinned back and winked at her, "Yeah. He's a lot like his old man, 'cept mines not so little."

Alexis blushed and looked down at her omelet as the boys came back to the table, she was in so much trouble.

Chapter 7

Alexis gave herself a once over in the full length mirror hanging on the back of her bathroom door, not too bad in her opinion. She went out of the bathroom and slipped on a pair of black heels to go with her dark jeans and black off the shoulder sweater. She grabbed her full length black leather coat out of her closet and stuffed the matching gloves in the pocket grabbed her purse and headed out the door almost running over Emily, who was standing on the other side poised to knock. "Oh, hey Emily, I'm sorry."

"That's okay I didn't know you were going out."

"Yeah, I agreed to have dinner with Mr. Corinthos, I could have turned him down, but he really uses those adorable boys to his advantage doesn't he?"

Emily laughed, she knew all too well. Nikolas had told her he thought Sonny had a thing for his Aunt but she had just waved it off thinking he was still a little paranoid about her time with Sonny, but it seems she was wrong. "Let me give you a tip though, don't mention this to Nikolas."

Alexis nodded, "Yeah, he said something to me yesterday that kinda tipped me off to that one, but don't worry there is no reason he ever has to know this is just a one time thing. I'll see you later."

"Bye." Emily laughed to herself, Alexis could kid herself all she wanted to, but she knew just how convincing Sonny Corinthos could be and charming when he wanted to. Alexis didn't have a chance in hell.

Sonny was putting the finishing touches on the chicken when the doorbell rang. Smiling he set the rag down and called out to Max letting him know that he would get the door. His smile fell, however when he saw his brother's face on the other side. "What the hell do you want Ric?"

Ric smiled arrogantly and strolled past Sonny to make himself at home on one of the large armchairs in his living room. "Absolutely nothing big brother, just thought we would spend some quality time together. You don't have any better plans do you? Something sure smells good."

"Get out, Ric." Sonny ordered through clenched teeth.

"Without seeing my nephews how rude would that be? And I am nothing if not well mannered."

"Ric, you are pushing me, here. And when I get pushed, I push back and you won't like the results."

"Are you threatening me big brother?"

"No, I'm promising you, I want you away from me and the people I love."

Ric stood up, angry "Fine. I'll leave. But I will be back, I mean we are family."

"Leave, Ric." Sonny barked, grabbing Ric's arm this time and leading him to the door. He pushed him through the door and into Alexis.

"Well, hello. You must be my brother's plans for the evening, allow me to introduce myself, Ric Lansing, it's a pleasure." He kissed the back of her hand much like his brother did but he made her uncomfortable in a very different way than Sonny, she yanked her hand back.

"Nice to meet you."

"Not very friendly, are you? Well, we'll just have to fix that." And before Sonny or Alexis could react or even realize his intentions he grabbed her by the hair, pressed his lips hard against hers and shoved his tongue down her throat. Alexis could taste whisky as she tried to fight him off. He groped her, pinching and she cried out in pain. The next thing she knew he was lifted away from her and all she could do was watch in shock as Sonny slammed him into a wall. "What's the matter big brother, mad cause I finally got something first?"

Sonny lost it, his medication could only go so far and Ric had pushed him past the end of his reserve he pulled Ric back and slammed him harder into the brick causing him to cry out in pain, then delivered a punch to his jaw, drawing blood this time. He would have gone further but he felt Alexis grab his arm and heard her calling his name he stepped back and wrapped her in a tight hug, whispering I'm sorry over and over into her hair and leading her into the house. He motioned to Max to take care of Ric and led Alexis into the living room where the boys had started an enthusiastic game of hide and seek that they promptly abandoned when they saw Alexis.

Alexis felt herself relax as the boys chattered happily, telling her about school, sports, friends, she tried to push the incident with Ric to the back of her mind.

Sonny, however, could not push the incident to the back of his mind, so he excused himself, telling Alexis he had to check on dinner. As soon as he stepped into the kitchen Sonny pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a very familiar number. "Bernie, hey, I want you to hire someone pay him well, and when he's done I want him out of town. He is not to know who he's working for." He paused a second to let Bernie catch up to him. "I want Ric in a lot of pain for a long time, he made a big mistake tonight." He paused a second to listen to Bernie's comments. "No. I don't want him dead, yet, but I do want him to pay." Sonny pressed the end button and moved filled up the plates on the already set table. He headed into the living room, where he found Alexis on the floor playing with his kids, he paused in the doorway to watch them for a moment and he couldn't help thinking that this was the picture he'd always had in his head, a wife, children, family dinners, games, and laughter. He couldn't help but wonder if this was the wife he had been looking for, the woman that could make him complete. He also knew it was way to soon to be having these thoughts, and it wasn't something that had happened before, he had always been the last one to fall. Now it looks like he was the first. Sonny shrugged off the worried thoughts that came to mind, she had plenty of time to catch up and he was going to make sure she did. "Hey guys, it's time for dinner, why don't you go wash up?" He walked over as the boys took off and held out a hand to help her up.

"Thank you." Alexis said softly as she got to her feet and found herself very close to Sonny.

"I'm really sorry again for my little brother, he has problems…" Sonny didn't know what else to say.

"It's okay, I understand, you didn't do it. His actions are his own." She said as she squeezed the hand still holding on to hers.

He smiled at her, and kissed her softly on the cheek happy to see the slight blush that rose to her face. Not letting go of her hand he said "Come on lets go eat." And led her into the dining room.

When she was on her way home much later that night, after more laughter, plans to have dinner again, and another kiss, this time on the lips, but still chaste, all she could think was…incredible.

Chapter 8

When Sonny walked out of his front door the next day, he felt like he was walking on air. For the first time in a very long time he felt like everything was finally going right in his life. Except for Ric, of course, but even that was looking up at the moment. He had gotten word this morning that _someone _had beaten his little brother within an inch of his life. Being the loving, supportive big brother he was he decided to go pay him a visit.

Sonny walked through the hospital corridors, pausing a moment to say a quick hello to Elizabeth and get Ric's room number. He walked in to see Ric, who was covered in nasty purple bruises with several broken bones and a concussion and he had to keep himself from laughing. The guy looked pitiful, but Sonny found himself incapable of sympathy. He walked over to the bed and shook him awake only stopping when Ric screamed in pain. "What's wrong little brother, pain killers aren't strong enough?"

Ric grunted, unable to speak around to broken and wired jaws.

"You know, you should really watch who you piss off in the future."

Ric grunted again and reached for the call button at his side, Sonny grabbed his hand first, squeezing the scraped fingers. "Don't bother, I'm leaving."

Sonny walked out of the hospital pleased, Bernie's man had done a great job, he'd have to send him a bonus. He had more important things to do first, he wanted to see Alexis, it was time to call Milo.

Alexis, at that moment, was doing some Christmas shopping with Emily at Wyndam's. As Emily wandered around the men's section looking for a gift for Nikolas, who she had already bought for, when she came across a soft, dark brown, leather jacket and couldn't help but think of how it would look on Sonny. She shook her head, trying to shake off the thought, and then sighed and picked up the jacket, guessing it wouldn't hurt. Dodging Emily's questions about who the jacket was for, they headed over to the toy section to get Spencer's gifts, where she decided if she was already buying for their father it wouldn't hurt to buy for his boys either. Half an hour later their shopping was done and wrapped and bagged, and they were headed out the door.

Sonny saw Alexis as she came around the corner, obviously not paying attention to where she was going, and simply stepped in his path. Emily saw what he did, he was sure she had, but she thankfully kept her mouth shut, but she looked she was trying not to laugh.

"Ooof." Alexis looked up at the solid mass she had just walked into and started to apologize until she was a familiar, yet amused, dimpled grin flashing back at her. "Oh. Hello."

"Hey. Fancy running into you here. Hey, Emily." He nodded over at the younger girl. "I'm glad I did run into you, though, I'm, uh, doing some Christmas shopping for the boys. You think you could help me out? Then, maybe, we could grab some coffee. There's this great little coffee house on the corner." At least he hoped it was great, he had never actually been in it, in fact he'd only noticed it five minutes before when he was driving past.

"Uh, well, Emily and I…." Alexis started but was cut off by Emily, who had noticed the hopeful look in the eyes of the man she used to love.

"It's fine Alexis, I'll just bring these bags home." She took Alexis' bags out of her hands, realizing who the jacket was for.

"Great." Sonny answered before Alexis could say anything else, "See you later, Emily. Let's head towards the toy section." He grabbed Alexis' hand and led her back into the store.

Two hours later they were laughing in the coffee shop, which had, in fact turned out pretty good. "You know," Sonny said looking into her eyes, "This has been the most fun I've had in long time."

"Are you trying to say yesterday wasn't fun?" Alexis teased.

"No, not at all, but yesterday had my drunken, bitter brother."

Alexis smile and teasing tone dropped. "Yeah, it did. I saw today in the paper where someone had beaten him up pretty badly."

"You may not understand this, but it would have happened sooner or later, and I for one just hope he learned his lesson. He's made some powerful enemies." Sonny tried to make it as vague as he could, he didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't risk driving her away either.

"I do understand." She took his hand in hers over the table and looked into his eyes. "I had to do some things I'm not proud of to get out of a bad situation, that's all I'm going to say on the matter for now, except that I understand better than you think."

Sonny smiled softly, lost in her eyes, he believed she did understand and it angered him that anyone would try to hurt her. She had already become so precious to him in just a few days, he knew he would do anything to keep it from happening again.

"I do have to go now. I have plans with Nikolas, he is very anxious to talk to me about something."

"Probably me. I want you to know whatever he says, I would never hurt you."

Alexis smiled nervously and pulled her hand back, he seemed so sincere, and so serious, but she wasn't ready to trust him yet and things were happening, feelings, so fast it made her head swim.

Chapter 9

Nikolas paced his living room nervously, waiting for Alexis to come home, he had to talk to her about Sam, today. He had put it off, wanting to give Alexis time to settle in, but he knew how badly Alexis wanted to find her daughter. He stopped pacing when she walked in and led her to the couch.

"What's wrong, Nikolas?"

"Nothing. Its just that, well I think I might have found your daughter."

"What? You know where she is?" Alexis gripped his hand.

"Maybe, that night when you first arrived, Sonny was here," When Alexis nodded Nikolas went on, "He wanted to talk to me about a his best friend's girlfriend, a young woman named Sam McCall. He says that his friend, Jason Morgan, who is also his business partner found some paperwork while looking for Sam's mother that stated she was born March 19th, 1985 to Natasha Cassadine."

Alexis just sat there, not knowing what to do or say, she had never expected it to be this easy. "I wanted to find my daughter so badly, but now that I know, I don't know what I should do. How do you just walk up to a grown woman and say Hi, I'm your mother? How does that work?"

"I don't know, Alexis. But she wants to find you too. I mean Sonny was demanding answers, she really wants to know about you, it may be easier than you think."

"Something like that will never be easy Nikolas. There is always just too much water under the bridge. But in any case I will make it work."

"Of course you will, if anyone can, you can."

Alexis smiled and hugged her nephew, "Thank you Nikolas, you don't know how much that means to me."

"Here," Nikolas handed her a small piece of paper with an address scrawled on it. "This is where she lives. She seems nice enough, I don't know her that well, but I have never had any problems with her."

Alexis smiled and stuffed the note in her pocket, "Thanks Nikolas."


End file.
